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The out-post on the frontier...

Date1928

Illustration Citation"The Fool Who Was Willing," by John Bennett, in The Pigtail of Ah Lee Ben Loo with Seventeen Other Laughable Tales and 200 Comical Silhouettes (New York and London: Longmans, Green and Co., 1928)

MediumCut paper glued to illustration board

Dimensionssheet: 15 1/2 × 17 15/16 in. (39.4 × 45.6 cm)

Credit LineGift of Martha Bennett Stiles, 2007

Object number2007-75.9

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Label TextWhen John Bennett suffered several years of fragile health during his childhood in Ohio, he mastered the art of cutting silhouettes. A high school dropout, he worked as a freelance artist until he could afford to move to New York and study at the Art Students League. With his publication of Mr. Skylark in 1898, still considered one of the best children's books of the nineteenth century, Bennett's reputation as an author and illustrator was assured. During his affiliation with St. Nicholas, he was noted as a leading silhouette artist.

In this story, a fool named Willing successfully seeks his fortune in a humorous take on the heroic quest found in many fairy tales.